Cygames’ mobile RPG Granblue Fantasy recently added a new character to game named Izmir. The game is only available in Japan but due to the high-volume of Westerners playing the game, Cygames added an English language option to the game. Gamers found out, however, that when switching between the Japanese language and English version, the character Izmir has a slightly more covered up look in her artwork, and has undergone some form of minor censorship in her character art and portfolio images.

YouTube outlet Censored Gaming did a quick two minute video comparing the images of the two versions and what exactly changed. You can check it out below.

The change includes minor coverage on the underboob cleavage and additional coverage to some of Izmir’s hips so that instead of wearing bikini panties she’s wearing boy-shorts. A comparison image can be viewed below.

Some of our readers reached out to us about the issue and pointed to the anger from both Japanese and Western gamers over the change.

Please fix Izmir. Cenroship is not the way. I hope it is a punctual censorship, and do not begin to mutilate characters through censorship.. pic.twitter.com/qpXt9p3zq7

As pointed out by Censored Gaming and in the thread, there are other characters in Granblue Fantasy that are not censored and have equally as risque outfits.

I did reach out to Cygames to ask them if this was possibly due to some issues with the character, preemptive censorship for a possible international release in the West, or due to some ratings standards. If the developers decide to respond the article will be updated.

This isn’t the first time a mobile game was hit with censorship, though. One company, Pati Games Corp, claimed that Google and Apple requested them to make changes to the female characters in Dragon Heroes. When the developers of King’s Raid attempted to censor their characters, the backlash from the fans was so bad that they removed the censorship from the game.

[Update:] A member from the administrative support division at Cygames named Nakano, responded to a user who informed them about the differences between the English and Japanese versions of Izmir’s outfit. The message was posted in a Reddit thread, where Nakano stated…

“We’re sorry to hear about this case regarding Granblue Fantasy and Izmir’s differing swimsuit versions between the Japanese version and the English version illustration. I suppose you agree that there is no doubt that the two versions are different?

“We’re deeply sorry about the confusion caused by the change in Izmir’s costume. But I can confirm that the change [in costume] is [designed as intended].

“However, I will collect this information [you have provided] and convey this message to the necessary department.”

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Billy has been rustling Jimmies for years covering video games, technology and digital trends within the electronics entertainment space. The GJP cried and their tears became his milkshake. Need to get in touch? Try the Contact Page.